Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-03-30

WEDl
Impnre Literature and Art.
WoMANs CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION,
DEPT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF
IMPURE LITERATURE AND ART,
March 80, 1887.
To the Editor Of TIE EVENING STAR:
The mission Of this department OF the work OF
the W. c. T. U. Is to suppress that which is I'M
pure, whether In literature or art. We seek to pro-
tect innocence and childhood and we appeal con-
fdently to the manhood and womanhood OF our
people to aid us In suppressing obscene and indie
cent pictures and publications, that lead so many
OF our dear ones away from the paths OF virtue snc
purity. One who has devoted many years TO THIS
work writes thus:
display pictures in public pisces before the eyes
Or posed IN ieW and asc1Das possnre with
ION EXPRESSION upon their an open insn. 70
ing the standard of common decency It Poisoning
become nppermost in their hearts, and respect
women Is being undermined 1t is unchvalrous, leads
sSsa the eses
led be- e is are cnns
sps f9y n @ and s the he
safeguards Of the community"
We propose to follow up this class Of Offenders
as lar as the law will permit. 1t is not our inten-
the artistic and the vulgar, but We must suggest
10 our friends and our critics that much which is
called Gale ast;sic is vulgar + we make any mistakes
morals. We shall give the beneft OF every doubt
TO the sweet boys and girls who are growing up
picture a work Of art does not necessarily relieve
IL from the charge OF being demorahztng to the
young, even though the embodiment Of poetic
tnought may obtain for 1t degree OF popularity.
And here let us say, that the boys ana young
men who are found gazing upon these denuded
nor are they usually exhibited as such. but for
lar different purpose. May it not be said that
picture properly admitted TO the Corcoran Art
Gallery would be lasciviouS and even indecent
question.
Within years the New York Society for the
suppression OF vice has confscated and destroyed
l12 framed pictures, 74S figures and images found
in public places.
In 1883 this same society arrested young man
1or selhng photographs of works Of art, the 0rigi
mails OF which had been exhibited in the art saloons
OF Parist Many thought this would not be sus-
case came to trial in the Oyer and Terminer Court
OF New York city, Judge Brady presiding, and the
jury gave verdict of guilty in the case OF nine
dlnerent pictures. The defendant carried the case
to the general term OF the Supreme Court in that
city. and the decision OF the lower court was
to the highest court OF the state and the Court OF
Appeals OF the State Of New York, by unani-
nous opinion, sustained the lower courts
We have never admired artistic nudity. but
have no criticism for the many whose tastes have
been cultivated in that direction We do insist,
however, that our boys and girls. our young men
and maidenS, Shall not be compelled to see these
nude figures in public places, as they walk along
our avenues and streets II they are confined to
look for them unless an artificial and impure appe-
ute has been created by the vulgar displays to
which we SO earnestly object.
And, now friends, let us examine a little more
closely into this matter. Why is 1t that so many
Of cigar and newSdeafers exhibit indecent pic
lures in their stores and windows? Is it to cult
r1,af Sc
the purpose? Why Is 1t that certain manufac-
turers OF cigars and cigarettes inclOSe with them
indecent and laSciviOuS pictures? Is il not to ad-
vertiSe and increase their business regardless of
the perniciOus effects that are certain to follow?
Many OF our cigar and neWsdealers utterly reject
these advertising pictures, and others display
them without thought OF their baneful results
To such dealers and TO all dealers, present the
request destroy these pictures, or they may re-
suit In destroying the morals OF some who are near
Why should business men, otherwise honorable
and upright, pander thus to The depraved tastes OF
the vicious few and thus become corrupt educa-
tors OF the young and pure?
In little pamphlet published by the Pure
Literature Bureau OF the American Railway Union
we find some suggestions written by one of the
editors OF the Philadelphia Evening Ruuet,,a
which we wish to Incorporate into this letter. lie
says In speaking OF the vile and indecent in liter
allure and art:
"The drsuchtsmen who prepare the pictures exercise
great de1ter1fy In keeping just within the boundaries
resentins no h Ih as they dare 90 II rep
of subjects selected by them. the scenes depicted in
iation Of the reauirsrnsns Of dececy The manifest
.nS dEeSy to and
but by which almost ~ Wholly WITH
ths Gs s ts s s the & are
toia art deadly poison to the morals Of the young
they ought to know nothing until they have that
strength OF character which Will enable them est
is watched closely by anxious parents who would keep
his mind from this Kind Of faint if he can absorb the
of do OH, "a,
he on his way to and from school. There is act
It than to
OF the utterly vile things that are circulated stealth
evil It INDUSTRIOUS that few DEPRIVED men Should
be permitted to make money by process which pol
as they 70 along the public IN
o IN a saas se terrible
thing can possibly exist under the moral law. The
license to the H mem whs Se
Of the Young We need stringent %ahas
% as s b n s
With WI fhs as e. we Il. to itself
to ought
Dear friends, shall not we who love our beauti
1u capital city, endeaVOr to make it morally pure
and clean? Shall we not make it easy to do right
and hard to do wrong? In New York in eight
obscene NATTER and arrested eleven hundred and
forty-Seven persons for violation OF the laws
against social purity. We shall not have so great
work as this to do, and yet there is much that
demands prompt action. We shall try to be both
just and charitable, and yet, God helping us we
shall be true to our convictions OF duty
Borrowing the thought OF one OF American most
devoted workers for humanity, let us say that we
stand for the protection OF the weak and the Dun-
ishment OF the wicked, and sometimes in our en-
thuStaSm, or our indignation, we may not be alto
gether discreet, as some count discreetness When
Eliza (of Uncle Toms Cabin was crossing the Ohio
River, with her babe in her arms the bloodthirsty
hounds AFTER her, leaping from one moving block
OF Ice to another, she probably violated every
principle OF graceful movement. But she held her
babe to her heart, and when her feet struck OhiOs
soil, she was free, and her child was Gods SO
bearing our dear boys and girls in the arms of our
love, we shall cross II need be- the raging river on
the floating ice, and land these dear ones safely
On the soil OF pure manhood and WOmanhOOi
VIII you al help US do this!
Rev. X. L. Macarthur tells this true story: sIn
the city OF Rochester, where 1 lived for several
years after coming across the border there was a
gentleman, In whose house lived, who had been
in the city OF New York, and returned to Roches-
ter, and as he walked from the station he saw a
crowd gathered at the river above the upper falls
He asked what the crowd meant. He was told a
little boy had fallen into the river and gone down
in the eddy. 1t took him but q moment to drop
his bag and leap in He had saved two children
before. He was gone out OF sight, and the water
gurgled up, but in q few moments he came up with